Charged particle beam devices can be used in, for example, electron beam inspection, critical dimension (CD) measurements of semiconductor devices during manufacturing, defect review (DR) of semiconductor devices during manufacturing, exposure systems for lithography, detecting devices and testing systems. Thus, there is a high demand for structuring, testing and inspecting specimens within the micrometer and nanometer scale. Micrometer and nanometer scale process control, inspection or structuring can be done with charged particle beams, e.g. electron beams, which are generated and focused in charged particle beam devices, such as electron microscopes. Charged particle beams offer superior spatial resolution compared to, for example, photon beams due to their short wavelengths.
Imaging of 3D structures, such as deep vias, has been conducted. When imaging 3D structures, a high resolution and a high throughput of the charged particle beam device are beneficial. However, the number of signal charged particles that can be collected and detected can be small. A resolution and efficiency of the charged particle beam device can be reduced.
In view of the above, new methods for detecting signal charged particles in a charged particle beam device and charged particle beam devices that overcome at least some of the problems in the art are beneficial. In particular, methods and charged particle beam devices providing an improved detection of signal charged particles are beneficial.